Conference „Industrial Heritage, Memory and Well-being – Community Engagement with Industrial Heritage in Post-industrial Contexts“, Bochum 22. – 24. 7. 2026

This conference provides a timely platform for interdisciplinary dialogue on the cultural, social, and political legacies of industrial heritage. We aim to deepen understandings of how these histories entangle with collective memory and community well-being. The event foregrounds decolonial, community-based approaches that redefine industrial sites as terrains of resistance, remembrance, and situated knowledge. By fostering comparative and transregional analysis, the conference champions methodological innovation and historical depth. Ultimately, our goal is to drive more inclusive, participatory, and critically engaged heritage practices that address pressing contemporary societal challenges.

22-24 July 2026 (CEST time zone — Central European Summer Time

Format: Online and in person

Interested participants can register through this link, after which we will send the access details for the event. The conference will be streamed online, and the regularly updated programme can be viewed here

Venue: Institute for Social Movements, Ruhr University Bochum.
Clemensstr. 17-19, 44789, Bochum

Organisation Contacts:
– Guilherme Pozzer: Guilherme.Pozzer@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
– María Esperanza Rock-Núñez: Maria.RockNunez@ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Program (15.6.26 version)

Day 1: Wednesday, 22 July 2026

08:30-09:00	Registration and Welcome Coffee (30 min)
09:00-09:20	Opening Remarks and Introduction to Conference by Professor Stefan Berger (RUB, Germany) (20 min)
09:20-10:20	Keynote Lecture 1Professor Bella Dicks (Cardiff University, UK). „Industrial museums at a new crossroads: impacts of postcolonial and environmental crisis“ (60 min)
10:20-10:40	Coffee Break (20 min)
10:40-11:40	Panel 1: „The Role of the Researcher and Research Methodologies“Chair: Dr Guilherme Pozzer (RUB, Germany)Speaker 1: Dr Ute Eickelkamp (RUB, Germany) Navigating Memory and Method: Researching Industrial Heritage in Post-Industrial Contexts. (20 min)Speaker 2: Professor Eduardo Romero de Oliveira (UNESP, Brazil) Methodologies for Reclaiming Industrial Memory: A Critical Approach to Heritage Research. (20 min)Discussion (20 min)
11:40-12:40	Panel 2: „Comparative North-South Perspectives“Chair: Professor María Esperanza Rock-Núñez (RUB / Universidad de Concepción)Speaker 1: Professor Stefan Berger (RUB, Germany) Entangled Legacies: Comparing Industrial Heritage Narratives from the Global North and South. (20 min)Speaker 2: Dr Irene Díaz (Universidad de Oviedo, Spain) Coal Regions in Transition: Deindustrialisation and Productive Transformation in Lota-Coronel (Chile) and the Mining Areas of Asturias (Spain). Notes for a Comparative Approach. (20 min)Discussion (20 min)
12:40-13:40	Lunch (60 min)
13:40-14:40	Panel 3: “Memory Making and Memory Regimes in Post-industrial Contexts”Chair: Professor Stefan Berger (RUB, Germany)Speaker 1: Dr Hilary Orange (Swansea University, UK) Revisiting Industrial Pasts: Conducting Memory Research in Post-industrial Societies. (20 min)Speaker 2: Professor Julián Sobrino (University of Seville, Spain) Reimagining Industrial Heritage: Community Engagement and the Revival of Industrial Landscapes in Post-Industrial Societies. (20 min)Discussion (20 min)
14:40-15:00	Coffee Break (20 min)
15:00-16:00	Panel 4: „Mobilisations for Industrial Heritage“Chair: Dr Guilherme Pozzer (RUB, Germany)Speaker 1: Dr Marie Patou (Mission Basin Minier, France). Industrial Heritage and the Politics of Memory: Exploring the Role of Communities in the Preservation and Transformation of Industrial Landscapes. (20 min)Speaker 2: Professor Marion Steiner (TICCIH / Universidad de Chile). Mobilisations for Industrial Heritage: Community, Resistance, and the Reclamation of Memory in Global Contexts. (20 min)Discussion (20 min)
16:00-16:20	Coffee Break (20 min)
16:20-17:20ONLINE SESSION	Panel 5: „Decolonial Approaches to Heritage and Well-being“Chair: Professor María Esperanza Rock-Núñez (RUB / Universidad de Concepción)Speaker 1: Arq. Cristian Castillo (NUDISUR, Chile). Community Organisation, Well-being, and Industrial Heritage: A Vision for the Symbolic Preservation of Chile’s Industrial Legacy and Social Housing. (20 min)Speaker 2: Dr Anna Calori (University of Glasgow, UK). Reimagining the world: decolonisation and the promise of development. (20 min) Discussion (20 min)

Day 2: Thursday, 23 July 2026

08:30-09:00	Morning Coffee (30 min)
09:00-10:00	Keynote Lecture 2Professor Stefan Berger (RUB, Germany). Buen Vivir and Industrial Heritage: Decolonial Perspectives on Community Well-being. (60 min)
10:00-10:20	Coffee Break (20 min)
10:20-11:20	Panel 6: „Artistic Approaches to Industrial Heritage“Chair: Professor María Esperanza Rock (RUB / Universidad de Concepción)Speaker 1: Dr María José Bretti (NUDISUR, Chile). Art in Ruins Festival: Diverse Community Narratives of Industrial Heritage. (20 min)Speaker 2: Dr Ruben Vega (Universidad de Oviedo, España). Remembering Industry Artistic Representation of Industrial Heritage. (20 min)Discussion (20 min)
11:20-11:40	Coffee Break (20 min)
11:40-12:40	Panel 7: „Heritage, Well-being, and Inclusive Representation“Chair: Dr Guilherme Pozzer (RUB, Germany)Speaker 1: Dr. Alicia Gorny (RUB, Germany). Care, Memory, and Belonging: Inclusive Heritage Practices and Community Well-being in Post-Industrial Contexts. (20 min)Speaker 2: Dr Olusola Oluwatobi Akintunde (NUDISUR,Nigeria). Working with the youth, from the peripheries and from below. (20 min)Discussion (20 min)
12:40-13:40	Lunch (60 min)
13:40-14:40	Panel 8: „Reviving the Economy: Industrial Heritage and New Economies“Chair: Dr Guilherme Pozzer (RUB, Germany)Speaker 1: Dr Mário Bruno Pastor (Portuguese Catholic University, Portugal). Industrial Memory as Economic Asset: Lessons from the European South. (20 min)Speaker 2: Dr Alejandro Mora Motta (University of Bonn, Alemania). The legacy of coal; Tree plantation extractivism in Chile: Territories, fundamental human needs and resistance. (20 min)Discussion (20 min)
14:40-15:00	Coffee Break (20 min)
15:00-16:00	Panel 9: “Industrial Landscapes and Environmental Legacies”Chair: Professor Stefan Berger (RUB, Germany)Speaker 1: Dr Moulshri Joshi (NUDISUR, India). From Toxic Remains to Collective Renewal: Reclaiming the Memory of Bhopal. (20 min)Speaker 2: Dr Susanne Frank (TU Dortmund University, Germany). The Ruhr Industrial Landscape: Social Dimensions, Urban Development, and Heritage Management. (20 min)Discussion (20 min)
16:00-16:20	Coffee Break (20 min)
16:20-17:20_ONLINE SESSION	Panel 10: “Community Perspectives and Engagement with Industrial Heritage”Chair: Professor María Esperanza Rock-Núñez (RUB / Universidad de Concepción)Speaker 1: Dr Magdalena Novoa (University of Illinois, USA). Industrial Heritage and Spatial Justice: Community-Led Practices for Inclusive Preservation. (20 min)Speaker 2: Dr Juliana Frassa (Universidad de la Plata, Argentina). Industrial Heritage and Collective Memory: Latin American Perspectives on Resignification and Social Transformation from the community. (20 min)Discussion (20 min)
17:20-18:20	Roundtable Discussion: Bridging Memories, Methodologies, and Narratives in Industrial Heritage Research (60 min) Moderators: Professor María Esperanza Rock-Núñez (RUB / Universidad de Concepción), Dr Guilherme Pozzer (RUB, Germany)Panellists: Professor Stefan Berger, Professor Marion Steiner, Professor Bella Dicks
18:20-18:40	Closing Remarks (20 min)

Day 3: Friday, 24 July 2026 (Optional)

09:30-12:00

Site Visit to Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex (UNESCO World Heritage Site) (Optional)Discussion of the site’s significance, conservation challenges, and community engagement initiatives Practical application of conference Panels to this specific industrial heritage context.